


Life On the Other Side [Working Title]

by reddragon29



Series: Unconditional [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 17:44:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10392411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddragon29/pseuds/reddragon29
Summary: Aftermath of No Matter What[AN: This is a repost of the second two chapters No Matter What under a new name. I am the original author, just separating these  two under a different part of a series to make the first one a stand alone as it was originally intended. More chapters will be added to this part of the series instead of No Matter What.]





	1. Author's Note

Hello dear readers,

I have decided to leave the first part of this series as a stand alone. That was the way I originally wrote it and that's how I want to leave it. Everything else that happens to Clarke, Lexa, and Aden will be in this part of the series instead, and future parts of the series will be other stories of unconditional love. I really appreciate your comments and kudos if you left them (I have screen caps of them all) and I can't wait to see what else you all have to say about any upcoming chapters as they roll out.

Also, sorry I haven't updated in several months, college started back up for me and I've had a massive imbalance in my entire academic/club schedule so I haven't had time to recreationally write. I'm a Creative Writing major which means I have to come up with a lot of ideas just for my class assignments, let alone something I'm keeping up on the side. I can't promise that I'll be update more frequently now that I've made this decision about the series or that I'll be updating at all in the near future, but I really do want to continue this work because I think it's very important to have this sort of writing out there even if it is just dumb fan fiction. #representationmatters

Thank you all for understanding and I hope you enjoy the things I add to this work and the rest of the series.

Cheers,  
Red


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aden comes out to his parents and they shower him in love and support.

The front door opened and their favorite person in the world walked into their house. Lexa was holding the package that had come in the mail in one hand, with her other around Clarke's waist.

"Um. You're both home early. Is something wrong, Mom?"

"Not at all," Lexa replied.

"Before we start our conversation, we want to remind you that we love you, no matter what," Clarke said. "Your mom and I have been worried about you lately. She found a package on the front steps addressed to an 'Aden Woods.' You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

They shuffled their feel and looked at the ground. "It's me," they mumbled after a moment.

"What was that?"

"It's me," they said more confidently.

Both parents went over to embrace their child tightly.

"You're not mad?" came Aden's muffled voice.

"Of course not, why would we be mad? We're your parents. We love you no matter what," Lexa repeated.

"You said that already."

"Because it's true."

Aden was shaking in their arms. Clarke could feel wet tears soaking through her shirt. They released Aden.

"So, shall we call you Aden?" Lexa asked.

Aden nodded shyly, wiping their face dry on their sleeve.

"And pronouns?"

"He and him."

They embraced him again for a minute then let go for good.

We're glad to be the pround parents of our son, Aden Woods," Lexa grinned. He slowly grinned back at her after a moment.

"Does this mean I get to take you shopping for a whole new wardrobe?" Clarke clapped her hands together, eyes sparkling.

Lexa threw up her hands in defeat. "I'm done," she cried.

They all laughed at that.

"Hopefully Mama realizes that clothes don't define a person and you can keep wearing what you've been wearing if you want, but I believe this is yours." Lexa handed him the package. He took it and seemed to heave a sigh of relief.

"I wasn't sure how you would both respond. I thought Mom would be okay with it, but Mama...I-I know how much you wanted a little princess to take care of."

Clarke wanted to hug her son all over again and break into tears herself. "No, baby, now I have a little prince to watch out for. A prince who will one day take care of me when I am old and decrepit, and your mom has to officially retire from being my knight in shining armor--"

"Clarke," Lexa had her face in her hand. "Please stop with the fairy tale fantasies."

"Why? They're so fun!"

"And you're embarrassing me and our son half to death!"

"Fine," she humphed. "I'm going to shower." She stalked off.

"She'll get over it," Lexa said to Aden. "I hope you didn't have any plans tonight? Clarke kind of went ahead and made reservations to celebrate."

"Um, no, I didn't," Aden replied. "What if you were wrong? About me, I mean."

"Then our family is enough cause to celebrate. Honestly I think Clarke just really wanted to try that Italian place that's just opened up. Occasion or not." She paused to take Aden's appearance in. He still stood awkwardly by the door, one hand holding his bag that he had slung off his shoulder before he noticed them waiting. His completely black attire, over sized hoodie that was zipped all the way up to the top despite the warmer than average day, and shoulder length hair drooping over his face. "We really cannot express our love for you enough. I hope you know that."

"I love you too Mom," he smiled. "I'll go get changed for dinner."

"Might as well start your homework while you're at it. Mama will take forever to get ready as always."

"Okay," Aden said before disappearing into his room.

Lexa let out a breath and smiled to herself. Things had gone better than expected. And their son! Their son seemed like he was going to come out of this mostly okay. Not perfect, but at least he knew he could come to them for support. No more secret sadness. Their suspicions confirmed, a smile on their son's face; Clarke and Lexa could sleep easy tonight for the first time in months. The journey had just begun.

She went to join Clarke in the shower, closing the door to their bedroom on her way through to the bathroom, also making sure she had her usual formal attire already laid out on the bed. She heard Clarke humming to herself as she walked into the bathroom. Lexa slipped into the shower behind her and rested her chin on Clarke's neck, breathing in the smell of her shampoo.

"You did well," she said softly.

"Thanks babe." Clarke turned to kiss her lips, lazily flopping her arms around Lexa's shoulders.

"Aden knows you're gonna be a while in here. I told him to start his homework."

"Hm?"

"I thought maybe we could have a celebration of our own?" Lea let her hands wander down Clarke's back, coming to rest low on her waist. "I closed the bedroom door so he won't be able to hear you, especially over the water."

"Oh Lex," Clarke giggled. "You always know exactly what I need to hear. We shouldn't keep him waiting though."

"Saying no to shower sex, that's a new one, Mrs. Griffin Woods."

"I'm too excited to meet our son."

"Alright, well, as they say: your wish is my command!" Lexa removed her hands from her wife and picked up the shampoo for herself.

"And you said you didn't want to be my knight in shining armor," Clarke smirked.

Lexa smirked back and said, "I have my moments." Clarke flicked water in her face. Lexa kissed her one more time before getting on with her shower and then leaving Clarke to finish hers. She wrapped her towel around her body and went to get dressed, careful not to drip all over the smooth hardwood floor with her hair. Clarke would never forgive her forgive her if she slipped yet again because Lexa didn't blow dry her hair before leaving the bathroom. Surprisingly, Clarke stepped out a short time later. Not looking up from tying her black dress shoes, Lexa asked her what time she booked dinner for.

"Seven."

"Such a prime time, what with the reviews they've been getting. I'm not complaining though."

"Definitely not complaining, at all. I'm really excited to try their food."

"Must have been a last minute cancel or something."

"Yeah, maybe. Did Aden say what he was going to wear?"

"No, but something tells me he's been waiting for the day he can finally wear that bow tie I found in his closet the other day."

"I also thought we could take him to get his hair cut before dinner. If he wants, of course. Can you zip me?"

Lexa waited until Clarke had her white sleeveless dress over her head, then zipped her up. She slung her arms around Clarke's tummy from behind and kissed her cheek. "Always the one to pamper our blue eyes," she teased, watching in the mirror in front of them as their eyes met and Clarke blushed. "Do you want to go ask or should I?"

"I'll go. Dry your hair more, please, I nearly broke my neck coming out of the bathroom."

"Oops," Lexa chuckled. "I tried no to drip too much."

"Well you failed, babe," Clarke said over her shoulder as she left the bedroom.

Lexa went over her hair with the towel one more time and made sure to wipe up the wet spots on the floor. Her beautiful wife returned with the news that Aden would indeed love to get his hair cut before they went to dinner. Then she suggested that if everyone was ready they should get going in case Aden wanted to take his time to find the perfect style.

"More like you just want to fuss over him and take tons of picture," Lexa muttered.

"I heard that!"

"Am I wrong though?"

A pause. "No..."

"Well then."

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Come on, smartass, let's go."

"You love me," Lexa said, lacing their fingers together.

"Unfortunately. Aden! Time to go!" she called.

Their son came out of his room wearing black skinny jeans, black Vans, a fitting black dress shirt, and a blue bow tie that matched his eyes. His chest was visibly flatter than before, but then again, this was the first time they had seen him without a baggy sweatshirt in a while.

"Are you wearing the binder?" Clarke asked, to which he nodded proudly. "Make sure you take it off as soon as we get home. You could seriously hurt yourself if you're not used to wearing one."

Lexa looked at her questioningly as she opened the door for her family to head out to the car.

"What? I know all about binding from Monty."

"Monty wears a binder?" This was the first Lexa was hearing about it.

"Yeah he used to?"

"I didn't know that." Lexa started the car and pulled away from the sidewalk.

"Oh, right, you met him after he got top surgery."

"Uncle Monty is transgender?" asked Aden from the back seat.

"Yep," replied Clarke. "I think it would be good for you to talk to him. I'll see when he's free."

"Thanks Mama. That would be great."

"All these years and I never knew," Lexa said to herself. "How long have I known him? Seventeen years? I can't believe this never came up."

"I'm sure it did, he usually talks about it when he gets really drunk."

"Is that why he makes so many dick jokes?"

"Mom!"

Clarke laughed at both Lexa's question and Aden's reaction to it. "Actually yes, yes it is."

Lexa turned into a parking space. "This is interesting information."

"I'll bet it is. Did you really not know?" The three of them got out of the car. Clarke waited until Aden was out of earshot before she whispered to Lexa," Bellamy found one of his packers lying around at a party while we were in college and turned it into a game of 'Pin The Dick On The Trans Guy.'"

"I'm not sure if that's offensive or not, but honestly I find that extremely hilarious, and I'm trying not to laugh for Monty's sake," Lexa whispered back.

"Yeah he was mortified at the time and he laughs about it now, but I don't think he's ever really going to get over it." Clarke opened the door for Aden and Lexa.

The hair stylist was really nice and took Aden's request for short hair and Clarke's suggestions in stride. She seemed to understand that even though Aden had longer hair when he walked in, he wanted to sport a more "masculine" look going forward. The way she styled it would grow out in a more masculine pattern, too, so there was no hurry to come back in to keep it short. He left with a huge smile on his face and he couldn't stop running his hands through the shortest hairs in the back. Clarke took down the stylist's name and asked when she worked so she could make her own appointment with her next time she needed to get her hair done. Then she took several pictures of Aden outside by the car with his new hair, practically swooning over him. Finally, Lexa reminded her that they should get a move on if they didn't want to be late for dinner.

"What's wrong with your current stylist?"

"Oh, you know. I just need fresh eyes. Plus they've got a better deal on their washes."

"If you say so."

"What?"

"You thought she was pretty."

"Babe, a pretty stylist does not always equal a good stylist. But I do agree. Niylah is both kinds of stylist and I'm thinking of leaving my old stylist for her."

"Will you be leaving me too, then?"

"Nope," Clarke said, popping the  _p_ before planting a wet kiss on Lexa's cheek.

"Mooooom," Aden complained from the back again.

"What? Can't your parents have a few sappy moments?"

"Okay, first of all,  _ew_. And second, please don't make me lose my appetite if the food is going to be as good as I've been hearing it's going to be."

Lexa hit the brakes as they rolled up to a stop light. "He's demanding," she laughed.

Clarke turned to face him in her seat. "What else is he like?"

He rolled his eyes. "Mooom."

"How many ways can you say 'Mom' before your mom gets annoyed?" Clarke challenged him, winking.

"Oh please do not do that, we are in the car. I remind you that this is a multi-ton vehicle that, realistically, I have very little control over. Besides the fact that I could just turn around and take us home."

This time it was both Clarke and Aden that whined "Mooooooom!"

Lexa just dropped her head on the steering wheel (not hard enough to hit the horn) and groaned. "I guess I should have seen that one coming."

"Yep. The light's green."

Lexa brought her head up and kept her mouth shut for the rest of the drive to the restaurant.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Griffin-Woods family go out to dinner and see some old friends.
> 
> [Edit: I accidentally made Niylah both the hair stylist and the school secretary but it's okay now because Echo is the secretary who also works at the art gallery.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally back in civilization! I wrote this chapter in my spare time while at Yosemite National Park, sorry in advance for any mistakes. Not too much Aden in it, I wanted to reunite Clexa with the gang first. I always really appreciate all kudos and comments, see you in the next chapter!

The Griffin-Woods family was a few minutes early for their reservation, but they were seated right away.

"This place isn't very full tonight," Lexa commented.

"When I heard you were coming tonight I made sure we didn't take any other reservations for this date," said the waitress who had just happened to come over to take their drink order.

"Anya!" Lexa exclaimed. "It's so good to see you!" She jumped up to hug her older foster sister. "How have you been?"

The taller woman smiled and hugged her back. "It's so good to see you too, Lexa." Clarke also stood to hug her. "Good, I've been good. Working on getting this place open, actually. Apparently you need two different food licenses and a well versed business manager to make it in the food industry." The corners of her smile barely tugged downward, but it was obvious she was very annoyed by the whole process. "Octavia has been a huge help."

"Oh! I haven't seen Octavia in ages," Clarke gasped. "Since the last Christmas party with Jasper."

"Yes, she really knows what she's doing and she's been helping get the best deals in everything. She's actually here tonight too. I'lll take your drink order and then I can go back and get her," Anya told them.

Lexa and Clarke returned to their seats and looked to Aden to see if he wanted anything besides water. He shook his head and said water was fine. Clarke ordered a glass of red wine, but Lexa also shook her head.

"Gotta drive," she said.

"Perfect. I'll be back in a moment with your drinks. And Octavia, of course." Anya walked off.

"Ah, it's so great to see her after all these years," Lexa sighed.

Aden had a confused look on his face and Clarke reached across the table smiling. "You met Anya when you were little, probably too young to remember. She moved to Ton DC thirteen years ago."

"She was my foster sister while I was in Burwood," Lexa added. "I wonder if she's still with Raven?"

"I think so? I feel like she would have come crawling back to me, looking for forgiveness, if they had broken up."

"Come on Clarke, are you still not over that?"

"What did she do?" Aden asked. He could remember an Auntie Raven from when he was little. She brought him to the auto shop all the time while his parents were at work and schooled him in well-known female mechanics.

"Oh nothing, Raven just--"

"That wasn't nothing, Lex! She kept telling my mom I was pregnant for months!"

"How was she supposed to know you couldn't be pregnant? You didn't tell her, and gay couples adopt all the time."

"CLarke rolled her eyes and waved her wife's defense away. "Anyways, Aden, we don't talk anymore due to...things. She ended up moving five years later to be with Anya in Ton DC."

"Clarkey!" A high pitch voice interrupted them. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

Clarke jumped up again to greet her old friend. "Octavia! It has been forever," she laughed. "Since Jasper's Christmas party."

"Ugh, don't remind me, I want to erase that night from my life," Octavia groaned, releasing Clarke.

"How's Lincoln?"

"He's good, taking care of the new puppy we just got last week. You should come by and say hello soon." Octavia looked down at Aden. Her brow furrowed slightly, and she looked at Clarke with questioning eyes.

"This is Aden," Lexa chimed in. "He uses he and him pronouns now." She used "now" to indicate that he hadn't always used that name and pronouns, as Octavia remembered playing with a little girl Clarke called her princess. "You remember Octavia right?" He nodded.

"It's nice to see you again, Aden." Octavia's expression lightened and she smiled. "Wow, you're so big. I think the last time I saw you, you came up to about here." She held out her hand just above her knees. "How old are you now?"

"Fourteen."

"Ah, they grow up so fast! Linc and I thought about adopting, we even thought about having one ourselves."

"Oh, what happened?" Clarke asked.

"We decided a baby wasn't something we could fit into our work lives right now. I'm usually out doing tastings for the wine blog I run, or here. Lincoln found a job wiith a company that specializes in company security and he usually takes the odd shifts in addition to his usual ones." Octavia sighed. "We're just too busy and I like wine too much."

Clarke and Lexa both nodded, remembering the time commitment Aden had been. They knew he would take up most of their time, but while it was happening, well, it just seemed like a lot even though they thought they were prepared.

"Cheers to that," Clarke said, raising her own glass of wine and taking a sip.

"Anyways, we have a puppy now, and that's close enough," Octavia said cheerfully.

They all laughed and Anya came back to take their food order shortly after. The three guests told her what they wanted, then Anya and Octavia disappeared into the back of the restaurant. Their fingers were laced together, which caused Clarke and Lexa to give each other surprised looks.

"So much for Raven." Lexa shrugged.

"What about Lincoln? O sounded happy about the puppy."

"Well, whatever's going on, it's not really our business."

"Lex! Of  _course_ it's our business. She's my best friend."

"Who you haven't seen since Aden was six!"

"That doesn't change anything. I still Facebook stalk all of them sometimes, I know what they're all up to. It's how I knew--" Clarke stopped.

"Knew what?" Lexa could tell she wasn't sharing something important.

"Nothing," she said quietly, and refused to say anything after that. She sipped at her wine again.

"Clarke! Clarke, I swear--"

Aden shifted uncomfortably in his seat. His parents didn't really argue, they were generally the happiest couple and parents he knew. Other kids at school talked about their parents fighting all the time or one o them leaving the dinner table because of something the other said. But his moms weren't like that.

"Aden? Aden, honey, are you okay?" Clarke brought him back. "Sorry, seeing our old friends has turned us into gossipers apparently."

"It's okay," he replied.

Lexa changed the subject. "So how was school?"

"It was fine. The usual."

"Did that Ontari kid give you trouble again?"

He shook his head. "She was suspended for the whole week, so she hasn't been bothering me. She'll be back on Monday though." Suddenly, Aden felt a sort of panic set in. His gender was just going to be more fuel to the fire.

"That's a nice break though, right?" Lexa tried to reassure him when she saw the worried glint in his eyes. "You have friends who look out for you too, like Luna?"

"Yeah, I guess." Luna was the one who had gotten Ontari suspended, also getting herself suspended in the process.

The worried look didn't disappear from her son's eyes and Lexa wondered what he was thinking about. He was always in his head, lately, they never knew what was inside of it. Until this afternoon, that is, and it would probably be a little bit before he opened up to them again completely. Clarke also saw this and squeezed Lexa's hand under the table. They both just wanted the best for their son, a bully at school was getting in the way of that.

When Lexa had first found out about Ontari's bullying, she had wanted to storm into the school and take care of it herself, but Clarke had kept her in check.

"Pick your battles, Commander," she said, using the name they had given Lexa at the gym she taught at. "This is not yours to fight."

Since then, Lexa did all she could from the sidelines, like getting all of his classes changed so he wouldn't have to see Ontari in the halls between classes. That still didn't protect him at lunch, though, and sometimes he came home with bruises from being shoved into the lockers. The situation with Ontari was brought into discussion during her and Clarke's late night musings about their closed off son. They wondered if things had gotten so bad that he no longer wanted to go to the same school anymore. To cross of this theory, Clarke talked to the secretary of the school, Echo, who worked at the same art gallery as her after school hours. She found out that Ontari was actually getting less detentions lately and going to all of her classes. They found this especially odd because Ontari was two years older than Aden and would specifically stop by the middle school after his last class to mess with him when she started high school. This was Ontari, the one who saw Aden trip over his untied shoelaces and had been bullying him ever since. Clarke began to have hope that she was losing interest in her child and would finally leave him alone. Four straight years of bullying can do a number on a person. 

The small family fell into light conversation while they waited for their food. Octavia brought it out a little while later, only staying to chat for a few minutes. They picked up their conversation again when she left, commenting on the food also as they ate. Anya came to clear their plates when they finished.

"I trust the food was good? Your plates are empty." She smiled warmly at all of them as she picked up the plates.

"It was excellent," Lexa complimented. "Are you the only cook back there?"

"No, I usually have a few assistants, but I told them to take the night off. I always make sure they're up to par though."

"This is such a great place," said Clarke. "I think you and O did a great job, and you've been getting such nice reviews, I couldn't wait to come and try your food."

Lexa slowly turned to look at Clarke, her eyes squinted.

"What?"

"You saw this on Facebook?"

"What?" She realized her mistake. It was subtle, but Lexa picked up on it. "Oops," she giggled nervously. "I'll be in the back with O?" Clarke slid out of her seat away from her wife, who had steam coming out of her ears and a look that could kill. "Good luck," she said to Aden and Anya.

Aden shrunk in his seat as he watched his mom slip away from the situation.

"I don't believe we've met," Anya said to him. "I'm Anya, your mother's sister from the foster home we lived in when we were about your age." She set down the dishes and held out her hand.

He shook it hesitantly. "Aden," he squeaked.

"Shy one you've got here, Lex."

"Yeah, we don't mind though. Confidence comes in time." Lexa winked at him.

"You never had a problem with it. All the ladies were after you and you basked in the glory of popularity."

"Are you forgetting my middle school days? My hair was out of control and glasses too big for my face. I didn't see a single eager soul."

"That's probably what made you so ecstatic in high school. Newfound beauty people would die for."

Lexa blushed, hard, and Aden couldn't help but smile. "Anya, please, not in front of the kid. Besides, you're just as good looking, if not more."

"Oh, I know," Anya said sweetly with a smirk. Lexa shot her a look. "By the way, the food is on us tonight."

"That doesn't get you off the hook, but I appreciate it. Thanks, Anya."

"Anything for my favorite sister."

"Aden?"

"Yeah, thanks," he said, a little louder than before. He liked Anya so far. She seemed nice and she made good food.

"Don't mention it, kid."

Lexa turned to Aden. "Should we check on your Mama?"

Anya craned her neck to see into the office area next to the kitchen. "It looks like O broke out the good wine." She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Without me! We talked about this..." She stalked off with the dishes in hand.

"I guess we should follow her," Lexa said to her son. They got up and did just that, finding Clarke sitting on the desk clutching another glass of wine and Octavia leaning against the same desk next to her. They were laughing as Anya fumed about how they are saving the wine for a special occasion.

"I'll just get us another bottle for Lincoln's birthday, An, don't worry," Octavia was saying. "At least now we know it's good."

"Sorry, Anya," Clarke chucked.

"It's fine," she huffed. "How much was it?"

"Three hundred, retail."

"You spent three hundred dollars on a bottle of wine without telling me?" Anya's eyes were bulging out of her head.

"Well, no. This one was a gift from the owner of the vineyard it's from."

Anya pressed her fingers into her forehead, trying to calm down. "Fine. It's our anniversary anyways, and I'm sure Raven will be happy to hear you spent that much money on her."

Clarke saw this opportunity to ask about Raven, setting her glass of wine on the desk and looking pointedly at Anya. "Okay, so what happened between you and Raven? Because Facebook didn't tell me anything about this and Raven moved all the way across the country for you. That's not something a person does lightly."

"You say that as if Facebook is an all-seeing oracle or something," said Lexa.

"It's kind of a long story," Octavia chuckled, casting a sideways glance at the restaurant owner. "Do you want to tell it or should I?"

She shook her head. "You can."

Octavia nodded. "I don't know if we ever told you, but Lincoln is asexual."

Aden had heard that word before. It meant someone who wasn't really interested in sex.

"I'm not, so I, um, usually found other people to, uh..." She looked at Aden. "Is he okay here? To hear this?"

Lexa shrugged.

"If he doesn't hear it now, he'll just hear it when he gets older," Clarke said. She picked up her wine again. "Continue on."

"Okay well, I usually found other people to have sex with since Linc and I were only doing it occasionally and he knew it wasn't really enough for me. When Anya and I started working to open this restaurant, I started to have feelings for her, but since she was with Raven I couldn't really do anything about it. Months go by and we're almost ready to open the place. My feelings have just gotten stronger. I talked to Lincoln about it, asking him for advice, but you know him. Always supportive. So that wasn't really helpful. And I wasn't about to ask Raven for advice on how to get over her girlfriend.

"A month before we opened I finally told Anya about my feelings for her. It turns out her and Raven are polyamorous, and that Anya has feelings for me too. We started dating, and then I started seeing Raven as well. That part was kind of weird for both of us at first, going on a date with one of your best friends in the whole wide world. But we got over it."

Anya spoke then. "Lincoln has been great with all of us. He doesn't feel the same way Octavia does for Raven and me, but he knows how much we mean to her."

"So you're saying...Octavia wanted to get a little from Anya because Lincoln is asexual and now it's turned into a full blown relationship between the four of you?" Clarke and Lexa tried to wrap their heads around this information. Aden knew he would have to draw this out later, because he was also very confused.

"Basically," Octavia and Anya said together.

"So is Raven also back in town, or...?" inquired Lexa.

"Yeah, she's also here. Wick still runs the auto shop with Sinclair, she was able to get her old job back." Octavia chuckled. "He had a hard time finding someone as good as Raven while she was gone, and he actually fired the person currently working for him as soon as she walked in the door."

"That's good to hear."

Suddenly Clarke's face lit up and she waved her right arm in excitement, careful not to spill the expensive wine in her left hand. "You know what? We should have a party. I wanted to invite Monty over to come talk to Aden, and you should all come too."

"That would be nice," Anya said. "Although, I'm guess Raven's invitation is pending on her apology?"

"You know it."

Octavia hummed in agreement. "Yeah, let's do it. Jasper just got back from his trip to Hungary. I'm sure he'd love another mind to corrupt."

"If you mean my son I'm going to say a hard no to that. I don't want to expose him to Jasper just yet," said Lexa.

"Same," said Clarke.

"And here I thought you would on board with it blondie. Like at the Christmas party." Octavia wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"I thought you wanted to forget about that party? And, a lot has changed since then."

"Okay, well, don't complain to me when he whines about not being invited. He's changed too, you know."

"O, I don't think it's such a good idea to invite Jasper." Anya went over and put her arm around the younger girl. "Even if he has gotten sober."

"Jasper? Sober?"

"I know right? He met a girl and got sober."

"Wow. Who would have thought."

Lexa also put her arm around Aden, protectively. "I still don't want him around Aden. At least until Clarke and I have a chance to see how he's doing."

Anya nodded. "That sounds wise. Sorry Octavia, maybe next time."

Lexa looked at Clarke's glass. It was almost empty. "What do you think, Clarke? Time to head out?"

She raised the glass to her lips to finish of the remaining wine, raising her eyebrow in acknowledgement of the question. "Oh yeah, Aden has school tomorrow. And I want to get an early start at work so I can be home by the time school gets out. Aden needs new clothes and I was thinking I could take him to the mall since it's Friday."

"If he wants," Lexa reminded her.

"If he wants," Clarke agreed. "What do you say, my little prince?"

Aden shied back, self-conscious of the sudden attention. "I-I guess..."

"Well, you have the night to think about it, don't let Mama pressure you into anything you don't want to do." Lexa rubbed his shoulder. 

He nodded gratefully. Clarke finished off her glass and jumped off the desk, ready to go.

"Thanks for the wine, O. Sorry I didn't know it was for Lincoln's birthday, we can chip in for the new bottle if you need us to."

"It's totally cool Clarkey, I can probably get another free bottle from the guy. He was hitting on me the whole time and I'm pretty sure he was about to ask me out on a date before I took off my winter gloves to show him my wedding ring."

"Octavia," Anya scolded, "it's not nice to play with people's feelings like that."

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Fine, then you come up with the three hundred for the new bottle."

"We'll talk about this later."

There were hugs all around and murmurs of "it was so great to see you", and then the Griffin-Woods family left the restaurant. Clarke raved about the wine Octavia had let her try all the short ride home. Lexa just nodded and hummed when required, but she was really watching Aden in the back seat. He was looking out of his window as the scenery passed with a blank expression on his face. Despite the expression, his bow tie made his eyes shine bluer than she had seen in a while, like when they had first adopted him. He seemed to know that they were going to be taking him home later that week; he had a big smile on his face and he giggled at everything they did to make him laugh. He was perfect.

They pulled up to their house and got out of the car, waiting for Lexa to lock the car and open the house. As they entered the house, Clarke suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you two match!"

Aden and Lexa looked at each other. They both wore complete black, save for their bow ties, which were both the same shade of blue.

"Did you steal one from my closet?" Lexa tried to think back at her collection. Were any of them missing?

"No, I bought mine a while ago at the mall."

Clarke wouldn't stop laughing. "This is so great. Let me get another picture of you for my Instagram!"

Lexa groaned. "Don't you have enough from earlier?"

"Yeah but that was about the hair, this is about the outfit."

"Fine. Come here Aden." They stood next to each other and Clarke snapped a picture.

"Thanks!" Clarke kissed both of them on the cheek. She stepped out of her heels and carried them off to their bedroom.

"How did we miss this?" Lexa chuckled to herself. Then, to Aden, "Homework, and then bed time so you can be up for school in the morning."

"Okay." With that, he was gone.

Lexa walked into their bedroom to find Clarke standing by the mirror again, taking out her earrings.

"So just how long ago did you find out about the restaurant?"

"I saw their countdown to their grand opening, and I called Anya to make reservations last month. We wanted it to seem out of the blue, and it was just lucky Aden came out to us today."

"What a happy coincidence. I'm surprised you were able to keep it a secret this long." Lexa waited as Clarke undid her bow tie for her like always. It was her favorite part of going out, getting home and taking off her wife's bow tie. Then Lexa unzipped her dress and she shimmied out of it.

"Me too, honestly. I thought I would slip up between then and now for sure."

"It was really great seeing Anya tonight, I didn't realize how much I missed her."

It took quite a bit of control not to run her hands seductively all over Clarke's bare back, resorting to kissing the back of her neck. There was a renewed flame in her love for Clarke, as there was every day when she woke up next to her, but tonight was different. Tonight they were brand new parents again, ready to take on the challenges of raising their son in this ever changing world. Gay marriage was legal in all 50 states, but transgender rights, they had a long way to go. Clarke and Lexa wanted to fight with all their strength for their son.

"Clarkey," she muttered, continuing to brush kisses against her neck.

"What babe?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
